Blood on the Clocktower

I need a full table for this one, minimum seven, ideally more, and a storyteller willing to actually perform the role, which is a bigger ask than it sounds. We got there eventually, Marcus runs it now most Wednesdays when we’ve got the numbers, and I’ve come around from skeptical to genuinely obsessed. It’s a town-of-Salem style deduction game but the storyteller has real narrative liberty, they’re not just reading a script, they’re shaping the night’s story in real time based on what characters got dealt, and that changes everything about how it plays compared to other games in the genre.

The accusation logic gets sharp fast. Somebody won’t confirm their role and the table immediately turns on them, you don’t want to say what you are, you must be evil, even though refusing to share info can be a completely reasonable choice for a Good character worried about being targeted. That tension, between playing optimally and playing in a way that doesn’t paint a target on you, is the whole game, and it’s smarter than I expected going in.

App integration is actually a strength here for once, which surprised me given how I usually feel about companion apps. The night phase runs through a tablet the storyteller uses, quiet, efficient, keeps the information flow clean without anyone needing to memorize a script. I’d never bring this to a two or three person night, it’s simply not built for that, but at seven-plus with a storyteller who commits to the bit, nothing else touches it. Five stars, and I’ve started buying character expansion sets I don’t strictly need.